Why Kenji Hates Mamoru and All Teenage Boys
by Heavenly Pearl
Summary: There's a reason Kenji doesn't like teenage boys hanging around his precious daughter. It's because he used to be one of them.


Why Kenji Hates Mamoru and All Teenage Boys

"Ikuko-chan!"

From where she was standing at the foot of the stairs, talking with a group of her friends, the most beautiful girl in the senior class at Juuban High School looked up and waved at me, a wide smile on her lips. Not for the first time, I wondered how in the world I got so lucky, to have Sugita Ikuko as my girlfriend. The god of fortune had certainly smiled down on me the day I asked her out on our first date.

I only hoped I was still in his favor, for I had decided that tonight would be the night.

It was perfect. We had been going out for about six months now, and my parents would be gone for most of the night at some business function at my dad's company. I couldn't have planned things better if I tried. All I had to do now was convince Ikuko to come home with me.

"Tsukino-kun, are you finished with your Photography Club activities?" Ikuko asked when I joined her, her giggling friends politely scattering so we could have some privacy.

I patted my camera bag and grinned. "Yeah, I just finished developing those pictures I took of you that day we went to the Imperial Gardens. I think they're some of my best work, if I do say so myself," I bragged. "Of course, it didn't hurt that I had someone as drop dead gorgeous as you are as a model."

Ikuko blushed, the rosy pink coloring her cheeks making her look even prettier, if that was humanly possible. "You're embarrassing me! It was the gardens that were beautiful, not me."

"How many times am I going to have to compliment you before you start believing me, Ikuko-chan?" I asked, amused, twirling a strand of her wavy blue hair around my finger. Honestly, I had never met a girl so unaware of her obvious beauty, but I supposed that was one of the reasons why I liked Ikuko so much. She was a refreshing change from those air-headed girls in my class who couldn't seem to go an hour without pulling out their compacts and staring at their reflections.

"Can I see them?" she asked instead, completely dodging my question. "The pictures?"

It was just the opening I was waiting for. "Of course. In fact, why don't you come over to my house and I'll show them to you? I don't want to pull them out here." I pointed up toward the sky, which was just beginning to turn a dark gray, hiding its earlier clear blue hue. "It looks like it's about to rain, and I don't want to get them wet."

"Y-Your house?"

"Sure. It's about time you came over, don't you think?"

"Uh… Well, I don't know…"

Taking her hand, I began leading her toward the gates of the school without giving her a chance to properly answer. "Come on, Ikuko-chan! We should hurry. You don't want to get wet, do you?"

To my immense relief, Ikuko didn't pull away, instead lengthening her strides to match mine. When I looked back at her, her face was flushed, but she was smiling. To myself, I said a silent, drawn out, "Yeeeeessss!" My plan was going perfectly.

Unfortunately -- or perhaps fortunately on my part -- we didn't beat the rain to my house. By the time we arrived, the two of us were completely soaked to the bone. I could even see the outline of Ikuko's bra through the white shirt of her uniform, a fact I tried not to draw much attention toward.

"Well, welcome to Casa Tsukino," I said, pulling my house key out of my bag and unlocking the door. "Wait here inside. I'll get us some towels to dry off."

"Okay."

As fast as I could, I went to the linen closet in the hall and grabbed a couple of towels for us to use. When I returned, Ikuko had her arms wrapped around herself, shivering from the cold of the rain.

"Here, Ikuko-chan," I said, wrapping one of the towels around her shoulders.

She smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Tsukino-kun." After drying herself as best she could, Ikuko stepped further inside the house and looked around. "Is your mother not here?" she asked.

"My parents won't be back until late," I confessed, hoping the fact that we were all alone in an empty house didn't drive her off. "Some big-shot at Tou-san's company is retiring after fifty years, so they're throwing him a big retirement party."

"O-Oh."

Though the news seemed to take her by surprise, Ikuko didn't turn to leave. I took that as a good sign.

"Anyway, if you want, you can take a bath to warm up," I offered. "I'm sure you're probably freezing in those wet clothes, and I don't want you catching a cold."

"A bath does sound pretty nice right about now," she admitted.

Heading for my room, I grabbed one of my pajama tops for her to change into while her clothes dried, then showed her to the furo. While she soaked in the steaming hot water, I went back to my bedroom to change, trying not to think too much about the fact that there was currently an unrelated, naked female in my house. To keep my mind occupied, I began straightening up my bedroom, not wanting Ikuko to think I was a total slob.

_Keep cool, Kenji, _I lectured myself, stashing a stack of men's magazines under my mattress. _You don't want to scare Ikuko-chan off before anything even happens. Remember, this has to seem natural. If she finds out the real reason you brought her here was to sleep with her, she'll never talk to you again, and all your friends will laugh at you when you graduate a virgin. Just keep co--_

"Tsukino-kun?"

Any cool I might have had was almost lost when I saw Ikuko standing self-consciously in the doorway to my room, dressed only in my navy blue-and-white striped pajama top. I had never seen anybody look so incredibly sexy in my entire life.

"I-Ikuko-chan!" _Keep cool, Kenji. _"Um, do you want something to eat or drink? I'm not that handy in the kitchen, but I can make us some tea, and Kaa-san usually has some homemade cookies…"

Ikuko shook her head. "I-I'm fine," she stuttered. "Where are the pictures? I'd like to see them."

It took me a few moments to remember what pictures she was talking about. "Oh, right, the pictures!"

Grabbing my book bag, which I had thrown on the bed, I sat down at the low table in the center of the room and pulled out the folder containing the photographs. Luckily, they had not been ruined by the rain. I began placing the photos on the table as Ikuko hesitantly joined me.

"Wow, these really are gorgeous, Tsukino-kun," she said, gasping. "You really do have a talent for photography!"

That time, the tables were turned, and I began to blush. "I'm really not that great," I insisted, scratching the back of my neck in embarrassment. "Like I said before at school, it's because of you that these photos came out so great. You should really think about becoming a professional model."

"Me? A professional model?" Ikuko laughed. "I don't think so. I don't have the body to be a model."

"I happen to think you have a very beautiful body," I remarked before I even realized what I was saying, causing Ikuko to turn a bright red. Trying to deflect the attention elsewhere, I picked up one of the photographs. "Here, look. This photo is my favorite of the bunch."

The photograph was of Ikuko bending down to smell a vibrant red rose. She wore a pair of bell-bottom jeans with a floral-print baby doll tunic, her blue hair pulled back with a yellow headband. Her face was bare of any cosmetics, letting her natural beauty show through, and she was smiling like an angel.

"Really?" she asked, looking over my shoulder at the picture. "You don't think I look a little goofy with that big grin on my face?"

I shook my head, setting the photo aside. "No, I think you look absolutely perfect," I said, "just like you do right now."

Leaning forward, I then caught her lips with my own, doing what I had wanted to do from the moment Ikuko entered my bedroom. My kiss caught her by surprise, but she responded back with equal fervor, more passionate than she ever had before. Soon, I had her pinned under me on the floor, her breaths coming in shallow gasps as I unbuttoned the first two buttons of the pajama top she was wearing and began kissing her slender neck.

"Tsukino-kun, should we really be doing this right now?" she asked, though she obviously liked what I was doing to her. "Is this okay?"

"Don't worry. Like I said, my parents won't be back until later tonight," I assured her.

"No, I didn't mean that. I meant, are we really ready to take this step? This is kind of a big deal."

"Ikuko-chan, I've been ready for this moment since my old man gave me 'the talk.'"

"B-But --"

"You do care about me, don't you?" I asked, stopping for a moment so that I could look down at her. "You know I'm crazy about you."

"Of course I do. I've never liked any boy as much as I like you, Tsukino-kun…"

"Then it's okay for us to do this."

I was about to resume where I left off when Ikuko suddenly sat back up, pushing me away. "Wait," she said as I silently swore in my head. "If we're really going to do this, then do you have…you know?" She blushed brightly. "I mean, I don't want to get pregnant."

Relieved that she wasn't backing down, I got up and walked over to my desk. In preparation for tonight, I had bought a box of condoms a couple of weeks ago and hid them away in a locked drawer so my mother wouldn't find them. With a shaking hand, I unlocked the drawer and pulled one of the packets out of the box.

_Keep cool, Kenji._

When I turned back around, I saw that Ikuko had moved from the uncomfortable floor to my bed, the blanket pulled up high to her chin. My pajama top lay discarded by the table.

"Did you find one?" she asked, her eyes wide with a combination of fear and anticipation.

Unable to speak at the thought of what was underneath that blanket, I nodded, then proceeded to pull off my T-shirt and jeans as fast as I could. When I was down to just my boxers, I joined Ikuko in bed, not believing my good luck.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Ikuko-chan?" I asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. As much as I wanted this -- and I wanted it more than I had ever wanted anything in my entire life-- I certainly didn't want to force Ikuko into doing something she wasn't ready for. As much as it would kill me, I was willing to wait. "You know, we don't have to do it if you aren't re--"

In response, Ikuko rolled over and cut me off with a kiss.

Truth be told, it was a rather strange experience, on the whole, nothing like I had imagined. Neither of us quite knew what we were doing, so there was a lot of fumbling and uncertainty as we intimately explored each others' bodies. Ikuko cried out in pain when I first entered her -- something I had not expected -- but she assured me that it was normal for the first time to hurt a little for the woman and encouraged me to keep going. Her pain did seem to subside as we continued, but I don't think she got much pleasure out of the whole thing. At least, not as much as I did. Maybe I had done something wrong; maybe I just plain sucked at sex.

Still, I loved being able to hold her, to touch her, to look at her. Ikuko's naked body was even more beautiful than I had imagined. I could have spent hours exploring the valleys and hills of her soft curves. She was like that famous painting of Venus being born from the sea, a mortal as perfect as any goddess.

When we had finished and I had properly disposed of the condom, I pulled Ikuko close to me, simply enjoying the proximity of our naked bodies. I was exhausted and longed to close my eyes, but I didn't want to fall asleep, afraid that when I woke up again, I would discover it had been all a dream.

"Are you okay, Ikuko-chan?" I asked, kissing the back of her head. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I'll try to be gentler next time, okay?"

She shook her head. "You were wonderful to me, Tsukino-kun," she said. "I'm glad my first time was with you, and I'm sure things will be get better with practice." Although I couldn't see her face, I was certain she was blushing at the innuendo behind what she had just said.

I grinned. "You know, if we are going to keep doing this, then maybe it's about time you stopped calling me Tsukino-kun."

"Okay…Kenji." Flipping over on her side so she was facing me, Ikuko smiled. "How was that?"

"Like music to my ears."

I started to lean in for a kiss, eager for a second chance to prove myself despite my exhaustion, when voices coming from downstairs caused both of us to freeze.

"Kenji, who is that?" Ikuko asked, modestly pulling the blanket up to cover herself. "I thought you said your parents weren't going to be home until late."

Instead of answering her, I swore.

I had no idea what was going on. My parents had told me they would be back at eight at the earliest, and according to my alarm clock, it was just a little after seven. It appeared my run of good luck had just run out.

If my mom and dad found out about this…

Well, I could forget having any semblance of a social life until after graduation.

"Okay, don't panic," I said, more for my benefit than for Ikuko's. As I quickly got redressed, I tried to think of a way out of the situation I had gotten us into. "Where is your uniform?"

Ikuko's voice was very small and her eyes very big when she answered, "I put them in the dryer."

Crap! How was I supposed to sneak across the hall without my parents catching me? My mother's sense of hearing was famously strong, and the floors of our house infamously creaky. Many a midnight refrigerator raid had been foiled by her inhuman ears.

"Uh, do you really need it?"

"Kenji, we have Saturday classes tomorrow! Of course I need my uniform!" she exclaimed in a loud whisper. "Besides, how am I supposed to get home without any clothes?"

"R-Right." I knew it had been a long-shot, but I had to try. "Okay, so you stay here and be absolutely quiet," I said, only having half a plan formed. "I'll see what I can do."

Grabbing a hamper of the dirty clothes I had picked up while Ikuko had been in the furo, I took a deep breath and casually -- or at least as casually as I could -- headed to the laundry room. As predicted, my mother picked up on the sound right away.

"Kenji, is that you?" she called out.

I couldn't exactly ignore her without drawing suspicion to myself, so I headed to the living room, where I found both of my parents, my mother handing a glass of water and what appeared to be some cold medicine to my father.

"Oh, hey, Kaa-san, Tou-san," I said, hoping my voice didn't sound as nervous and high-pitched as I thought it did. "How was the party? You two are home sooner than expected. I thought you weren't supposed to be back until eight."

"Your father wasn't feeling well, so we decided to leave the party a little early." My mother's eyes instantly zoomed in on the hamper of dirty clothes I was carrying. "You're doing laundry? You never do your own laundry."

"Yeah, well, I'll be going off to college in a few months, so I thought it was about time I learned how to do it myself."

"Really?" For a moment, I feared the skeptical tone in her voice meant she knew I was lying, but apparently she believed me. "You really are growing up, aren't you? Do you need any help?"

I shook my head. "N-No, I think I have everything under control," I said. The last thing I needed was my mother following me to the laundry room and discovering a girl's uniform in the dryer. "In fact, I was just about to start on this next load, so if you'll excuse me…"

"Wait, have you eaten yet? Since I didn't have the chance to cook tonight, I was thinking about ordering us a pizza."

"Yeah, sure, pizza sounds fine, Kaa-san."

Before she could ask any more questions, I turned back around and practically sprinted to the laundry room. Ikuko's uniform, as well as her bra and panties, were in the dryer, just like she said they were. After admiring her lacy undergarments for a few precious moments, I dumped my dirty clothes unto the washer and tossed Ikuko's dry things in the empty hamper, careful to cover them just in case with some clean clothes my mother had done earlier and had not put away yet.

Since I had told my mother that I actually knew how to do laundry when I knew nothing of the sort, I put in about a cupful of laundry detergent as directed by the box and turned on the washer. I had no idea if I was actually doing it right, but I figured one load of ruined clothes was nothing compared to getting caught with Ikuko in my bed. I then headed back to my room to find Ikuko completely hiding underneath my blanket.

"Ikuko-chan, it's okay," I said after closing the door. "I got your uniform, and the coast is clear for now. My parents don't suspect a thing."

"Thank goodness!" Her head popping out from underneath the blanket, Ikuko held out her hand. "Hand it over and turn around so I can change."

"Turn around?! It's not like I didn't just see you naked less than half an hour ago, you know."

"Kenji…"

"Fine, fine." With a disappointed sigh, I gave her back her clothes and turned around while Ikuko dressed. "Look, I really am sorry about this," I apologized. "I had no idea my folks were going to come home from the party so early."

"It's okay." By that time, Ikuko had finished changing back into her uniform. "At least this night will be one I'll never forget," she laughed.

I grinned. "That's for sure!" I agreed, leading her to the window so that she could sneak out. Luckily, I lived in a one-story house, so it wouldn't be difficult for her to do. "So, see you tomorrow at school?"

"You bet!"

And with one final kiss good-bye, Ikuko climbed out the window.

DISCLAIMER: _Sailor Moon_ is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story was written for the sm_monthly community at Livejournal (Theme: Retro Fashion) and won for Best Romance and Best Comedy for June 2008.


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